The Gunners haven’t scored in the opening half of their last 6 PL home games

Arsenal host Sunderland on Saturday (Watch live on USA, 10am ET and online via Live Extra) at the Emirates, with Arsene Wenger‘s men hoping to pick themselves up after their deflating UEFA Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

The Gunners went down fighting to Munich, as Mesut Ozil‘s missed penalty and Wojciech Szczesny‘s red card changed the shape of the game. Back in the Premier League, Arsenal are still right up there at the top of the standings as they sit just one point behind leaders Chelsea. Arsenal need their star man Ozil to recapture the form which saw him dazzle on his debut away at Sunderland last September. I was there for that game and he was sublime. The German international is lacking in confidence but he has more than enough quality to come through this rough patch.

Sunderland are in the bottom three, so this should be a routine home win for Arsenal… right? Think again. Sunderland are unbeaten in six games away from home, keeping four clean sheets in those and three of the last five matches between these two at the Emirates have ended in 0-0 draws.

The Black Cats are scrapping for their lives at the bottom of the table but do have the League Cup final against Manchester City coming up at Wembley next Sunday, Sunderland’s first major final for over 22 years. However with silverware in the back of the minds of both teams, Arsenal will be desperate to rack up another home win and potentially jump over Chelsea back into top spot in the PL. Expect this match to be a tight and tense affair.

Wenger on facing Sunderland: “We are playing in three different competitions in one week. It’s extremely difficult to adjust every time and it’s physically very demanding. We have fought hard so far in the Premier League and of course now we want to come back and win our home game.”

Poyet on Arsenal: “Arsenal played on Wednesday and they are supposed to be tired, which is a possibility. So we need to make sure we play at a high intensity, keep the ball and attack. We will try to use everything to our advantage, but we know how difficult it will be.”

Prediction

Arsenal’s fans will be looking for a reaction from their team, as the Gunners must bounce back from their midweek defeat to Bayern. Sunderland will be distracted by their cup final next week, but players will also be playing for places in that lineup so the Gunners shouldn’t underestimate the Mackems. This will be a midfield battle, and probably not the prettiest of games. Arsenal 2-0 seems to be the bet during home games this season. I can see that happening once again on Saturday.